Heifer International (also known as Heifer Project International) is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Heifer distributes animals, along with agricultural and values-based training, to families in need around the world as a means of providing self-sufficiency. Recipients must agree to “pass on the gift” by sharing animal offspring, as well as the skills and knowledge of animal husbandry and agricultural training with other impoverished families.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, Heifer International started with a shipment of 17 heifers to Puerto Rico in 1944.[16][17][18][19][20] Since 1944, Heifer International has distributed livestock such as goats, bees, and water buffalo, along with training and other resources, to 20.7 million families, or more than 105.1 million people in more than 125 countries.[16][17][18][19][20]

The first cows were named, "Faith," "Hope," and "Charity," and recipient families had to promise that they would donate the first female calf to another poor family.[16][17][18][19][20] West asked farmers and church leaders to donate pregnant dairy cows due to calve soon so that impoverished families could have milk for years to come and not have to worry about breeding the cows.[16][17] Heifer International would eventually broaden its scope to distribute fish, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, oxen, water buffaloes, bees, llamas, alpacas, camels, frogs and rabbits to poor rural communities around the world.[16][17][18][19][20]

Heifer International’s first paid employee was Thurl Metzger, a member of the Church of the Brethren who started as an unpaid volunteer and served as executive director/program director and director of international programs of Heifer International for 30 years.[16][21][22][23][24] Metzger started his tenure as a seagoing cowboy. Seagoing cowboys volunteered to accompany the animals to their overseas destinations.[16][19] From 1951 to 1981, Metzger served as the executive director and director of international programs of the nonprofit and diversified the program’s offerings as well as the geographic regions Heifer International was serving.[16][21][22][23][24] Eventually Metzger guided Heifer to work in developing nations instead of war-torn regions.[16]

In the early 1970s, Heifer consolidated its U.S. distribution network by buying several large farms, including a 1,200-acre ranch in Perryville, Arkansas, as livestock holding facilities.[16] The organization moved its headquarters to Little Rock, near the Perryville ranch, in 1971. Livestock are now sourced from within country or regionally.

In 1992, Heifer International appointed Jo Luck to its helm as CEO.[16] Jo Luck is a former member of Bill Clinton’s Arkansas gubernatorial cabinet. Before serving as CEO and President, Luck was the Director of International Programs for Heifer International.[16] Heifer International’s budget boomed to almost $100 million under Jo Luck’s leadership.

In 2008, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Heifer International a $42.5 million grant to help poor rural farmers in East Africa double their incomes by increasing their production of high quality raw milk to sell to dairies. In 2012, the Foundation followed up with an additional $8.2 million.[25][26][27]

In 2010, Pierre U. Ferrari was named CEO of Heifer International. Ferrari became president and CEO after Jo Luck’s retirement.

Passing on the Gift is part of Heifer International’s charitable model. The nonprofit grounds all of its projects in its 12 Cornerstones of Just and Sustainable Development.

Passing on the gift allows families and individuals who have received animals to be donors themselves.

Accountability allows for organization at the grassroots level. Community members decide together what kind of animal and assistance they would like. They also set goals, plan appropriate strategies to achieve those goals, and evaluate their success. Participants take responsibility for making the most of the tools and training they receive.

Sharing and caring. Participants become donors themselves and contribute to a more unified community.

Sustainability and self-reliance. Heifer training empowers participants to take charge of their own success; each project has an exit strategy to prepare farmers for self-sufficiency.

Charity Navigator scores Heifer International as a 3-star (out of four) charity with 82.51 points out of 100. Heifer International’s financial performance is rated 2-star while its transparency and accountability is rated 4-star. For the period included in the September 5, 2015, income statement, Charity Navigator showed Heifer's non-program expenses (amount spent on salaries, fundraising, and other non-program services liabilities) encompassed 23.4% of all charitable donations.[28]

GiveWell has argued that while Heifer International is 'commonly perceived as a way to “give a cow to a poor family as a gift,”... this is in fact a donor illusion - donations support Heifer International’s general “agricultural assistance” activities. We have concerns about this general area and concerns about giving livestock specifically. Neither Heifer’s website nor its grant application have provided the kind of information needed to address these concerns.'[29]

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan recognized Heifer with the Volunteer Action Award and in 1990 President George H.W. Bush granted the organization the Presidential End Hunger Award.[8][16]

In 2003, Heifer International was named one of Forbes magazine's top 10 charities.[30]

Heifer International also received the 2004 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize for its efforts to eliminate hunger and help communities become self-sustaining. It was the first U.S.-based organization to win the $1-million award since 1997.[31]

Heifer International received the 2006 and 2008 Social Capitalist award from Fast Company magazine.[32][33]

The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) reports that Heifer International meets all of its standards for charity accountability.[37] The WGA found that Heifer International is truthful in its representations of how money is spent, does not allocate an excessive part of its budget for fundraising or administrative expenses and makes its financial statements readily available to the public.[37]

The Charity Navigator rates Heifer International with 78.72 out of 100, a combined score of Heifer's 70.06 for financial and 97.00 for accountability and transparency performance.[38]